GreenHoop Blah But the main point being put forward here is that IF the board at STAR want their organisation to meet it's stated objectives, including "encourage the Club to take proper account of the interests of its supporters and the community it serves" then it's failing if it doesn't engage with the largest body of fans outside of match day attendances.
Also, you've just repeated the same mistake as Dirk, that the board is limited to a handful of individuals who both to contribute. It isn't. There were around a 100 contributors to one thread alone, and many many more that would be reading it.
If the club, or more specifically STAR, ignore this forum as their best way of reaching out to the wider fan base then they are, at best, missing a trick, and at worst neglecting their duty as elected representatives of an organisation who set out their objectives to represent the fans of the football club.
Good post
I think we're trying to make two different points that roughly add up.
I agree that this is the portal where you're most likely to get the attention of Reading fans, but in my opinion it's not the best forum for gathering feedback,complaints and accurately gauging fanbase opinions because as you've admitted you've only got maybe 100 contributors at most contributing to the the most lively of threads, representing just a tiny fraction of what Green has said is 45,000 unique visitors. Even if those 45,000 did all post you've then got an even harder job to try and judge if it's a genuine worry and shared concern or a clique or individual posters fishing or on the wind up.
I don't think STAR or the club ignore the forum, I'm certain board members and those in the club's management will be reading threads and picking up on concerns, the only thing is that now they're not prepared to directly represent themselves on HobNob because of the abuse and aforementioned difficulties in dealing with anonymous posters on an internet forum.
On the one hand It's a missed opportunity in the short term but as mentioned, with the growth in other social media and internet sites perhaps they are confident they will be able to spread their message and get feedback in a less unruly environment long term?